The traditional auction industry, especially that of professional dealers or wholesalers, is a very rapid pace event in which time is money for the auctioneer, auction company, consignor as well as the dealer or buyer/bidder. Many types of auctions use a “reserve price” scenario. If the item to be auctioned meets the specified price set by the consignor, the item is sold at that price, or higher. If the high bid does not meet the reserve price, then the consignor has the option of selling the item at the high bid, the bidder has the option of meeting the reserve price, or the consignor and bidder can negotiate a price. Currently, all negotiations are done by consignors sending a representative to the live auction block, or are done by phone at the initiative of the live auction, and typically occur at a much later time. With the increasing utilization of technology in the auction environment, it is necessary to provide the technological capability for both a remote bidder and a remote consignor to negotiate during the bidding process, instantaneously, and without disrupting the live auction flow. This capability is essential to providing immediate feedback to both the bidder and the consignor as a price negotiation is conducted.
If the consignor has met the consignor's overall objectives for the auction sale, the consignor may be willing to sell any item at a much lower price than the reserve price in order to reduce inventory and carrying costs. If a bidder needs that specific item to complete the bidder's sale objectives, the bidder may be willing to pay a higher price than the bidder's previous high bid. The ability for both the bidder and the consignor to be remote from the auction facility also provides the ability for a consignor to represent his items to be auctioned at multiple concurrent auctions and represents an opportunity for both the consignor and the bidder to significantly reduce travel costs.